Godkiller by Hannah Kaner – Book Review
In Godkiller Kissen’s family were killed by zealots of a fire god. Now, she makes a living killing gods, and enjoys it. That is until she finds a god she cannot kill: Skedi, a god of white lies, has somehow bound himself to a young noble, and they are both on the run from unknown assassins.
Joined by a disillusioned knight on a secret quest, they must travel to the ruined city of Blenraden, where the last of the wild gods reside, to each beg a favour.
Pursued by demons, and in the midst of burgeoning civil war, they will all face a reckoning – something is rotting at the heart of their world, and only they can be the ones to stop it.
Gods
In Godkiller we are introduced to a new world, and a new pantheon, that seem to draw some inspiration from our own world. This is fantasy, but not of the ‘elves and dwarves’ type. While there are fantastical elements, such as the personification of deities that live and breathe and die like humans, the fantasy here is of the magical variety. There are enough similarities with our own world for the world-building to feel familiar, comfortable even, and the more fantastical elements blend in seamlessly. At no point does the writing feel jarring while weaving in these elements, or take you out of the story. Quite the opposite, Kaner is deft at bringing you into the world of Godkiller, making the reader feel at home in her world.
These gods are often petty and small-minded, and it is easy to feel an affinity with Kissen and the work she does. The two other main characters, Inara and Elogast, are equally likeable, albeit for very different reasons. The trio are entertaining, often times likeable, and very, very well written. I tore through this novel at a rate of knots, and enjoyed being in the company of the main characters.
Monsters
While there are actual monsters stalking the world that Kissen and her companions inhabit, their fellow people are often the worst of them. Godkiller has twists and turns, deceits and deceptions, and Kaner crafts a narrative that drags you along at a breakneck pace. This is meant as a compliment, as while the narrative races it takes you with it for the ride.
The world-building is subtle, Kaner references aspects of the world to build up a picture of it, but there is no heavy handed exposition. I enjoyed the way characters backstories are used to develop the world around them, especially with regards to the Gods War. Bits of background are dropped in through conversations and story-telling, in a way that feel natural and unforced.
Heroes
One interesting aspect of the novel for me was the lost limb that Kissen lives with. We are shown the trauma of the loss early on, but it does not become a major character point for her. It is something that she lives with, and while there are occasional referenced to the self-care aspects, or the way she adapts to work around the limb and prosthesis, it is not portrayed as an all-encompassing aspect of her persona. This type of representation is so important, as too often we are shown as disability as the entirety of someones life or personality; Kissen is a breath of fresh air.
While the ending ties up a number of narrative threads from the novel, it does something that a lot of fiction seems to these days, and leaves some areas open to further exploration. While I appreciate the reasons for this, and would very much like to revisit the world of Godkiller, it can be very frustrating as a reader to not get the whole story.
Godkiller is published today (Thursday 19th January 2023) by HarperCollins.
